Body Composition Tip 2 - Keep Track of Your Goals and Progress

Strategies for Goal Setting

Outdoor Fitness is not just about a firmer butt and better biceps; it’s about health, fitness and well-being, and creating a better lifestyle—a life with style! However, it takes more than just fat loss and firm muscles. For a happier, healthier, well-balanced life, it’s important to create goals in all areas of our life. So take a moment to explore what your goals in life really are, then decide to follow through.

Get Specific
One of the challenges to goal-setting is keeping your aspirations specific, reasonable, and attainable. You set yourself up for frustration if you decide you must lose 20 pounds in a month, or run five miles after a couple of weeks. A strategy that can help is to divide your goals into short-term and long-term.

Long-term goals are things like running a marathon, losing 30 pounds, and reducing the risk of heart disease.

Think Beyond the Obvious
Okay, so you know you want to lose some weight and trim your waist. What are the social or emotional goals that accompany your physical ones? What are your whole health aspirations?
Use our Goal-setting Workshop to help you determine your goals.

More Tips:
1. Use the power of your mind and think about your body composition. What do you want it to be? Visualize that healthy, fit, well-proportioned self.
2. Write down and revisit your goals often, and be sure to focus on why you’d like to achieve them. Be specific.
3. Plan ahead. During the first few weeks, plan all your meals, including your snacks. Write out your food plan first thing in the morning and follow that plan throughout the day.
4. Organize your exercise, including rest days. Put it down on your calendar, just as you would an appointment. Include two to three days of strength training, three to four days of cardiovascular conditioning, a day of cross training, and a day of rest.
5. Measure your body composition. Retest yourself after eight to twelve weeks and record your progress.